Once on the bike, the best of the field (Hoffman, Bozzone, Fettell, Ambrose and Reed) gapped their rivals and built upon their advantage throughout the 56 miles. The lead pack of five dismounted their bikes with just seconds in the single digits separating them.

In the opening miles of the run, Fettell and Ambrose were first to fall off the pace leaving the trio Reed, Hoffman and Bozzone to fight it out for the lead. Nearing four miles, Bozzone and Hoffman dispensed ofReed as the lead pair forged forward. For the remainder of the run less than a second separated Hoffman and Bozzone as they traded the lead a number of times. Coming into the finish line chute, the pair where running shoulder to shoulder with Bozzone narrowly edging out Hoffman for the win by a mere .79 of a second in one of the closest recorded finishes on the IRONMAN 70.3 circuit.

McQuaid out front all day

Melanie McQuaid (CAN) was first out of Lake Stevens in 26:47, with Jessica Smith (USA) (0:04) and Liz Lyles (USA) (1:15) exiting the water in second and third.

No one could match McQuaid's torrent pace on the bike as she managed to build up advantages of 4:55 and 10:43 on Lyles and Smith by the conclusion of the bike.

Once on the run, McQuaid was solid, only surrendering a few seconds per mile to Lyles who was clearly running the fastest. It was only in the closing miles of the run that Lyles worked her way to within three minutes of McQuaid, but it was a matter of leaving it too late. McQuaid captured the title in a finishing time of 4:27:08, with Lyes next in with a time of 4:29:42. Smith closed out the podium with her 4:43:50.

Photos: Michael Stevens/FinisherPix.com

Top 5 Men

1

Terenzo

Bozzone

NZL

3:55:17

2

Ben

Hoffman

USA

3:55:18

3

Matt

Reed

USA

4:00:58

4

Paul

Ambrose

AUS

4:03:34

5

Clayton

Fettell

AUS

4:07:56

Top 5 Women

1

Melanie

McQuaid

CAN

4:27:08

2

Liz

Lyles

USA

4:29:42

3

Erin

Spitler

USA

4:43:50

4

Liz

Noey

USA

4:46:37

5

Jessica

Smith

USA

4:49:14

Celebrate your finish with some of official gear from IRONMAN 70.3 Lake Stevens